YPO Global Pulse

The YPO Global Pulse report gathers insights from global chief executives on the topics that influence businesses and drive leadership decisions.
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YPO Global Pulse: CEOs Driving Growth: The Workplace Redefined

How can leaders best capitalize on today’s business environment? To understand actions leaders are taking as well as plans they are setting in motion, YPO recently conducted a survey of 1,681 chief executives from across 96 countries and more than 47 industries. YPO is the world’s largest global community of chief executives in the world with 33,000 members. This survey of a representative sample from across their membership provides insight into how CEOs from across the world view workplace trends, the state of the global economy, and the actions necessary to move forward.

Top 5 Key Learnings

  • A majority of CEOs remain positive overall about business, but optimism is curbed by elevated economic uncertainty: While 60% of executives surveyed reported having a favorable business outlook for the coming year, that number is down from 81% last year. The survey reveals that the factors contributing to this decline in business outlook are primarily economic: inflation, supply chain constraints, geopolitical instability (the Russia-Ukraine War). Executives surveyed predicted an average price increase of 11.1% in the next year, and inflation was listed as the top obstacle to business viability at present, followed by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.
  • CEOs are focusing on key drivers of growth and doubling down on the employee experience: Despite the growing economic concerns, a significant percentage of chief executives report that their businesses have made progress in several key areas. Chief among these are internal and external communication, digital transformation, innovation, collaboration, and productivity. Nearly one-half (49%) of chief executives also report an improvement in diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts.
  • CEOs are taking a more flexible approach to where work happens: The past two years have also seen significant transformation in terms of work and workplace flexibility and a recognition of the importance of both attracting and retaining employees. This has led to a growing focus on holistic employee care, including new elements such as wellness and mental health benefits and initiatives, and even programs that extend to both employees’ families and to the communities in which they reside.
  • The redefined workplace has its own set of opportunities and challenges: While the hybrid environment has become a popular middle ground in the work setting debate, the clear advantages stem from either on-site or remote, depending on what the business priorities are. On-site is proving most advantageous for key factors such as relationship and team building as well as collaboration, whereas remote is ideal for productivity, employee retention, and D&I.
  • CEOs are making mental health a focus: Spotlighting mental health in the workplace is crucial, with about three quarters (78%) of respondents placing mental health on their priority list, and 40% saying it is a high or essential priority. Nearly one-half of executives surveyed said they have or plan to implement a mental health policy, sharing that these policies include access to counseling, mental health services, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), coaching and more.

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YPO Global Pulse: Business Outlook for 2022

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The New CEO Frontier in the Post-COVID-19 World

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on our lives, businesses, economies and governments, but as we enter the final quarter of 2020, YPO, the global leadership community of more than 30,000 chief executives, surveyed its members to explore perspectives on managing their workforce into the future, traits business leaders believe are most critical for the CEO of the future, recent business pivots, and predictions for the next 12 months.

 

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